Foundry machine with swinging door for core removal



July 14,1970 H, H, VON WOLFF ET AL 3,520,347

FOUNDRY MACHINE WITH SWINGING DOOR FOR CORE REMOVAL Filed April 29, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 lNVENTORfi. F lg. 3 #le/eeem- H. vo/v WOLFF HUGH 5UUE4455'4 ATTORNEYS.

y 14, 1970 H. H. VON WOLFF ET AL 3,520,347

FOUNDRY MACHINE WITH SWINGING DOOR FOR CORE REMOVAL Filed April 29, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet INVENTO S. HEEBE/ZT VON OLFF HUGH A. Bod/2455A BY WW7, f M

4 TTOENE Y5 July 14, 1970 H, VON WQLFF ET AL 3,520,347

FOUNDRY MACHINE WITH SWINGING DQOR FOR CORE REMOVAL Filed April 29, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS HERBERT H. VON WOLFF BY Hue/4 A. BOUEASSA WW7, WM

1 4 rroeusws United States Patent 3,520,347 FOUNDRY MACHINE WITH SWINGING DOOR FOR CORE REMOVAL Herbert H. Von Wolff, Shaker Heights, and Hugh A.

Bourassa, University Heights, Ohio, assignors to Acme- Cleveland Corporation, a corporation of Ohio Filed Apr. 29, 1968, Ser. No. 725,038 Int. Cl. B22c 13/08, 17/08 US. Cl. 164-183 19 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The disclosure shows a foundry machine described as a shell core blower which has a side swinging door and then a down swinging door thereon so that one of the core boxes may be moved in a horizontal arc and then in a vertical arc to present the core box face downward 1y for easy removal of the core in the core box. The down swinging door together with the heater plate and mold box may be fairly heavy and cumbersome and the motive means and linkage means to swing this down swinging door incorporates a partial Geneva mechanism to accurately and easily control the movement of this door. The motive means is shown as a fluid cylinder pivoting a lever which in turn acts on the partial Geneva mechanism to slowly accelerate the door toward an intermediate position and then gradually decelerate the door. Also when the down swinging door is in either a horizontal or vertical position the door is effectively locked in position by the partial Geneva mechanism.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Foundry machines as well as shell core blowers have been on the market wherein first and second core boxes relatively reciprocate between closed and opened positions which the closed position permitting blowing of refractory material into the interior of the core box to form the core. The core boxes are translated apart and one prior art form of shell core blower had one core box mounted on a side swinging door so that the core box swung through a horizontal arc to make the completed sand core more accessible. However the closed core boxes are often mounted on a rotatable frame which rotates to permit the core to be blown and return of excess sand so as to form a shell core. This rotatable frame necessitales considerable moving parts which hinder access to the side swinging door so that the finished core is not as accessible as desired. Further the core was removed manually and with the continued demand for completely automatic machines, it is desired to have the core auto matically deposited on a core take-away conveyor. In either the heat curing or room temperature curing, the so called cold process of curing the binder in the sand core, the core is not completely cured at the time of ejection from the core making machine. Accordingly, care must be taken with these cores so that they are not broken. This means it is not possible to permit the cores to be ejected and to have them fall any appreciable distance onto a conveyor else they are apt to break. This is especially true with any thin projections on the completed core.

Accordingly an object of the invention is to provide a machine which will gently eject cores in a downwardly facing manner so that they will not be broken.

Another object of the invention is to provide both a side swinging door and then a down swinging door on a foundry machine so that cores are ejected from the downward face of the door.

Another object of the invention is to provide a linkage means including a partial Geneva mechanism to move a door in a foundry machine so that the door is slowly accelerated and decelerated and yet positively locked in two different limit positions of the door.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention may be incorporated in a foundry machine comprising, in combination, a stationary frame, a support on said frame, a swinging door carried on said support on a swinging axis, a motive means connected to said support, linkage means connecting said motive means to said swinging door; said linkage means including a first lever and a partial Geneva mechanism, said first lever having a pivotal connection on said support on a pivot axis, means connecting said motive means to move said first lever, said partial Geneva mechanism including guide rail means pivoted on said support on a horizontal turning axis, means interconnecting said first lever and said guide rail means for relative pivotal and longitudinal movements parallel to said guide rail means, means connecting said guide rail means and said door for concurrent movement, said swinging door having first and second positions arcnately spaced, actuation of said motive means pivoting said first lever through an angle and turning said Geneva mechanism guide rail means through an angle to swing said door through an angle between said first and second positions, and a line joining said pivot axis of said first lever and said pivotal and longitudinally movable interconnecting means being substantially perpendicular to said guide rail means in at least one of said two positions of said door to effectively lock said door in said at least one of said two positions despite any unbalanced force on the door tending to pivot same about said swinging axis.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a machine incorporating the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front end view of the machine of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a partial view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the down swinging door in an alternate position.

FIG. 4 is a partial view at right angles to the view of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a partial top view showing the door in the open position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The figures of the drawing show the invention incorporated in a foundry machine 11 which is merely illus trative of the preferred embodiment of the invention but the invention may take many other forms as limited only by the hereinafter appended claims. The foundry machine 11 has a stationary frame 12 which journals a rotatable frame 13. A rotatable support 14 is part of this rotatable frame 13 and includes, among other things a first or down swinging door 17. The down swinging door 17 is mounted for swinging movement on a swing axis 18 on the rotatable support 14. This rotatable support 14 is a part of second side swinging door 20. This door 20 3 27. A typical completed sand core 28 is shown in FIG. 2

in this first core box 27. A second core box 29 is slidably translatable on the tie rods toward and away from the first core box 27, when the side swinging door 20 is closed. When the two core boxes 27 and 29 are reciprocated closed then a sand blow head 30 may be moved into engagement with the closed core boxes for investment of sand thereinto. Usually this is accomplished with the rotatable frame 13 inverted from that position shown in FIG. 1 so that the sand is blown downwardly. After investment and initial cure it is usual that the rotatable frame 13 is again inverted to the position shown in FIG. 1 so that excess sand will drain from the closed core box into the blow head 30 or other receptacle. The second core box 29 may be reciprocated away and the side swinging door 20' swung open to the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Motive means 33 is provided to move the down swinging door 17. This is shown as a fluid cylinder and piston arrangement with the lower end connected to the rotatable support 14 on a pivot axis 37 and one end of the tive means 33 to the down swinging door 17. This linkage means includes a first lever 35 and a partial Geneva mechanism 36. The first lever 35 is pivoted on the rotatable support 14 on a pivot axis 37 and one of the lever 35 is pivoted at 38 to the piston rod of the motive means 33. The partial Geneva mechanism 36 includes a bracket 40 fixed to the front of the down swinging door 17. This bracket of the partial Geneva mechanism is pivoted about a turning axis 41 which in this preferred embodiment is the same as the pivot axis 18 of the down swinging door 17. The bracket 40 includes guide rail means shown as parallel guide rails 42 spaced apart. A rollable element 43 is closely received between these two guide rails and is pivoted on the outer end of the first lever 35. This provides a pivotal and longitudinally movable interconnecting means between the first lever 35 and the partial Geneva mechanism 36. This rollable element 43 may pivot as it longitudinally moves between the parallel guide rails 42 as the lever 35 swings through an arc. The guide rail means are connected to the door for concurrent movement by virtue of the bracket 40 being fixed on the front face of the down swinging door 17. The door 17 has a first or generally vertical position as shown in FIG. 2 and a second or generally horizontal position shown in FIG. 3. These are limit positions as established by movement of the motive means 33 acting through the linkage means 34. A reference plane 45 is defined by a plane joining the pivot axis 37 of the lever 35 and the turning axis 41 of the partial Geneva mechanism 36.

A motive means 48 shown as a fluid cylinder is provided between the second or front end ring 24 and the side swinging door 20 to arcuately move same. Ejector cylinders 49 are provided on the down swinging door 17 to act on the completed core 28 to eject same. Shot pins 50 are provided on the side swinging door 20 to provide a positive locating means of this door as it is closed upon the front end ring 24 at times during the cycle of operation.

OPERATION In the operation of the preferred embodiment the foundry machine 11 which incorporates the invention may be used to produce solid or shell cores. The structure shown will produce shell cores by moving the second core box 29 along the tie rods 25 to close the two core boxes 29 and 27. These two core boxes would be parallel at this time. The blow head 30 is next moved upwardly into engagement with the closed core boxes, and then the entire rotatable frame 13 rotated on the stationary frame 12. Air pressure is supplied to the blow head 30 to blow the core box cavity full of sand and adhesive mixture. Where the adhesive is a cold setting adhesive, some means such as gas may be provided for setting this adhesive. Where a thermally setting adhesive is used such as a thermosetting resin, the heater plate 26 may be used to heat the core boxes to initially set the adhesive. After the initial set the rotatable frame 13 may again be rotated about 180 degrees so that the blow head 30 is near the bottom to receive excess sand and additives drained from the core box cavity. This produces the shell core. Next the sand core box 29 is removed along the tie rods 25 from the first core box 27. Next the motive means 48 is actuated to swing the side swinging door 20 through about a 90 degree angle to the position shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 5.

The axis 21 of the side swinging door 20 is forward of the end ring 24 so that the completed core 28 is positioned forwardly of the end ring 24 in the position shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 5. Next the motive means 33 is actuated from the position shown in FIG. 2 to the position shown in FIG. 3. This swings the lever 35 through an angle of about degrees from one side of the reference plane 45 to the other side. During this swinging the rollable element 43, which is the interconnecting means between the lever 35 and the guide rails 42, acts on the partial Geneva mechanism 36 to swing it degrees, again from one side of the reference plane 45 to the othe rside. Because the bracket 40 is fixed on the front of the down swinging door 17, and because the axis 18 of door 17 is the same as the turning axis -41 of the partial Geneva mechanism 36, the down swinging door 17 also swings 90 degrees from the vertical position of FIG. 2 to the horizontal position of FIG. 3. In this position the core box 27 is facing downwardly and is presenting the completed core 28 downwardly and in a position well forward of the end ring 24. At this time the ejector cylinders 49 may be actuated to strip the completed core from the core box 27 and to set the core gently onto a conveyor mechanism, not shown, which may be closely adjacent to the lower edge of the completed core 28. This achieves positive yet careful ejection of this core so that any delicate projections thereon will not be broken because the core does not have far to fall. Also this ejection aids the automatic operation of the entire machine 11.

It will be noted that in FIG. 3 both solid line and dotdash line positions are shown for the lever 35 and partial Geneva mechanism 36. These positions show that a line joining lever axis 37 with the axis of the rollable element 43 is substantially perpendicular to the guide rails 42 in each of the two limit positions of the partial Geneva mechanism 36. This effectively locks the door in each of the vertical and horizontal positions of FIGS. 2 and 3, respectively, despite any unbalanced forces placed by the door on the Geneva mechanism. Even if fluid pressure should somehow fail and no longer be provided to the motive means 33, the door would not move from its either vertical or horizontal position because it is effectively locked in place by the partial Geneva mechanism 36. It will be noted in FIG. 2 that the combination of the door 17, heater plate 26, the core box 27, and the completed core 28 has a center of gravity 52 at a location well to the rear of the swing axis 18 of the down swinging door 17. These are usually large, heavy castings of cast iron, for example, for strength, stiffness and heat retention, and the weight thereof will present a fairly large unbalanced force acting on the interconnecting means 43 in each of the vertical and horizontal positions of FIGS. 2 and 3, respectively.

The center or gravity 52 of the door 17 and mold box carrier acts primarily on the partial Geneva mechanism 36 at the time when the door is in either its vertical or horizontal position of FIGS. 2 and 3, respectively. This unbalanced force from the weight of the door attempts to arcuately swing the bracket 40 and the force is borne through the rollable element 43 and the length of the lever 34 and is absorbed by the pivot axis 37. Accordingly it is not transmitted to the motive means 33. However it will be noted that a reference line joining the center of gravity 52 and the door swing axis 18 is at approximately a 45 degree angle from the vertical in each of the positions of FIGS. 2 and 3. Accordingly, this means that when the motive means 33 is being actuated and the door 17 is in an intermediate position, the center of gravity 52 will be generally vertically below the door axis 18 at the time when the rollable element 43 is along the reference plane 45. This is at the time when the partial Geneva mechanism 36 is not locked in either of the two limit positions and hence the present design establishes that this unlocked condition of the partial Geneva mechanism will be at those times when the door center of gravity 52 is generally vertically below the swinging axis 18 and hence has a minimum amount of unbalanced force on this partial Geneva mechanism.

As the motive means 33 starts its movement from either the position of FIG. 2 or the position of FIG. 3, the rollable element 43 initially starts to move generally parallel to the guide rails 42. This means that initially only a small force is required by the motive means 33 to begin acceleration of the down swinging door 27. By the time that a larger force is required, namely at the intermediate position along the reference plane 45, the door has already been accelerated to approximately its maximum speed, and the motive means can readily supply such force. Conversely the deceleration is smooth and controlled because the door is gradually decelerated as the lever 35 completes its arcuate swing and at the end of movement the rollable element 43 is again moving generally parallel to the guide rails 42.

It will be noted that the length of the lever 35 between the pivot axis 37 and the axis of the rollable element 43 is slightly greater than the distance between the turning axis 41 and the rollable element 43 in each of the horizontal and vertical limit positions of the door 17. This establishes that the lever 35 moves through a smaller arc than the door 17, for example lever 35 moves 80 degrees for a 90 degree swinging movement of the door 17.

FIG. 3 also shows that the center line or axis of the guide rails 42 in each of the two positions of the bracket 40 intersect at a point spaced from the turning axis 41. This gives a slightly nonsymmetrical action to the door movement so that upon acceleration from the position of FIG. 2 toward the position of FIG. 3 there is a slightly greater lever arm and a slightly greater mechanical advantage than when starting from rest in the opposite direction. A comparison of FIGS. 2 and 3 will show that a line joining the door swinging axis 18 and the door center of gravity 52 is about at a 45 degree angle from the vertical plane in each position. This means that this line has approximately equal angles on each side of the vertical plane in each of the two limit positions of the door. Further inspection of FIGS. 2 and 3 will show that a line joining the lever pivot axis 37 and the rollable element 43 has approximately equal angles of about 40 degrees on each side of the reference plane 45, which is defined by the lever pivot axis 37 and turning axis 41, in each of the two positions of the door. This results in the novel and desirable characteristic that the weight of the door 17 and mold box carrier establishes a minimum force on the interconnecting means 43 at the time when the center of gravity 52 is approximately vertically beneath the door swinging axis 18, which is at the intermediate position when the rollable element 43 is generally along the reference plane 45.

Although this invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numeous changes in the details of the circuit and the combination and arrangements of circuit elements may be restorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A foundry machine comprising, in combination, a stationary frame,

a support on said frame,

a swinging door carried on said support on a swinging axis,

a mold box carrier mounted on said door and having means to carry a mold box,

motive means connected to said support,

linkage means connecting said motive means to said swinging door;

said linkage means including a first lever and a partial Geneva mechanism,

said first lever having a pivotal connection on said support on a pivot axis,

means connecting said motive means to move said first lever, said partial Geneva mechanism including guide rail means pivoted on said support on a turning axis,

means interconnecting said first lever and said guide rail means for relative pivotal and longitudinal movements parallel to said guide rail means,

means connecting said guide rail means and said door for concurrent movement,

said Swinging door having first and second positions arcuately spaced,

actuation of said motive means pivoting said first lever through an angle and turning said Geneva mechanism guide rail means through an angle to swing said door through an angle between said first and second positions,

and wherein a line joining said pivot axis of said first lever and said pivotal and longitudinally movable interconnecting means is substantially perpendicular to said guide rail means in at least one of said two positions of said door to effectively lock said door in said at least one of said two positions despite any unbalanced force on the door tending to pivot same about said swinging axis.

2. A foundry machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein said support is rotatable, and wherein at least one of the positions of said rotatable support establishes said axes generally horizontal so that the door swings downwardly in one arcuate direction.

3. A foundry machine as set forth in claim 2 including said first and second positions of said door being generally vertical and generally horizontal, respectively, and said second position of the door establishing said mold box carrier facing downwardly for easy removal of any mold carried in a mold box thereon.

4. A foundry machine as set forth in claim 2 wherein the line joining said pivot axis of said first lever and said first pivotal and longitudinally movable interconnecting means is substantially perpendicular to said guide rail means in each of said first and second positions of said door.

5. A foundry machine as set forth in claim 2 wherein a line joining said door swinging axis and the center of gravity of said door and mold box carrier has approximately equal angles on each side of a vertical plane in each of the two positions of the door and the line joining the lever pivot axis and said pivotal and longitudinally movable interconnecting means has approximately equal angles on each side of a reference plane joining said lever pivot axis and said door swinging axis in each of said two positions of said door so that the weight of the door and mold box carrier establishes a minimum force on said interconnecting means at the time when said center of gravity is approximately vertically beneath said door swinging axis.

6. A foundry machine as set forth in claim 1 including said swinging axis of said door being mounted to the front of said door so that said mold box carrier moves to the front as the door is swung to said second position to aid removal of any mold in a mold box on the mold box carrier.

7. A foundry machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein said guide rail means includes two parallel guide rails,

and said interconnecting means includes a rollable element pivotally and longitudinally movable between said parallel guide rails.

8. A foundry machine as set forth in claim 1 including an axis of said guide rail means having two different positions corresponding to said first and second positions of said door,

and said two different axis positions of said guide rail means intersecting at a point spaced from said turning axis.

9. A foundry machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein said support is rotatable,

a side swinging door mounted on the said rotatable support,

and said first mentioned door mounted on said side swinging door.

10. A foundry machine as set forth in claim 1 including said first lever having a length between said pivot axis and said interconnecting means greater than the distance between said turning axis and said interconnecting means in each of said first and second positions of said door,

whereby said partial Geneva mechanism may arcuately move 90 degrees for only about an 80 degree movement of said first lever.

11. A foundry machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein said foundry machine is a shell core blower,

a rotatable frame on said stationary frame,

and said support being carried on said rotatable frame.

12. A foundry machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein said support includes a rotatable frame on said stationary frame,

first and second large rings and four horizontal rods extending therebetween as part of said rotatable frame,

first and second core boxes,

means carrying said first core box on said mold box carrier,

and means carrying said second core box on said horizontal rods for translation toward and away from said first core box.

13. A foundry machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein said motive means includes a movable piston in a fluid cylinder.

14. A foundry machine as set forth in claim 1 including a reference plane intersecting said pivot and turning axes,

and said Geneva mechanism establishing said pivotal and longitudinally movable interconnecting means on opposite sides of said reference plane in said first and second positions of said swinging door.

15. A foundry machine as set forth in'claim 1 wherein said support includes a rotatable frame on said stationary frame,

a side swinging door carried on said rotatable frame and included in said support for said first mentioned door.

16. A foundry machine as set forth in claim 15 including a first fluid cylinder connected between said side swinging door and said rotatable frame to swing said side swinging door through about a 90 degree angle.

17. A foundry machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein said Geneva mechanism establishes initially a lesser force required by the motive means in moving from either of said first or second positions toward an intermediate position of the door,

and said guide rail means being substantially perpendicular to a line from said interconnecting means to said pivot axis in each of said first and second positions to unload all forces on said motive means caused by the Weight of said door in each position thereof and instead to have such forces borne by said pivot axis.

18. A foundry machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein actuation of said motive means pivots said first lever through an angle of about degrees so that said interconnecting means does not move at any time exactly parallel to the longitudinal dimension of said guide rail means.

19. A foundry machine as set forth in claim 1 wherein actuation of said motive means moves said guide rail means through an are between first and second positions arcuately spaced about degrees apart and generally symmetrically positioned on opposite sides of a reference plane joining said horizontal pivot and turning axes.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS ROBERT D. BALDWIN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 164-186, 200, 224 

